Image of Associate Professor Leonie Heilbronn and Associate Professor Lyndsey Collins-Praino.
The University of Adelaide has been awarded more than $15 million in research grants from the Federal Government's Medical Research Future Fund's (MRFF) to support targeted research on new ways to address risk factors for chronic and complex diseases.
This represents the largest MRFF funding the University has attracted in a single year.
Five of the eight successful projects funded will be led by female medical researchers, demonstrating the strength of research talent in South Australia. The funding includes five million dollars for preventive and public health projects. This includes research with a focus on dietary and lifestyle interventions to improve health for women planning pregnancy, pregnant women and people in the population at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Researchers include Professor Jodie Dodd, obstetrician and maternal fetal medicine specialist; Associate Professor Leonie Heilbronn and Associate Professor Lyndsey Collins-Praino, all from the University of Adelaide.
Professor Jodie Dodd has been awarded $2,790,917 in funding for research to identify whether weight loss before conception improves pregnancy and birth outcomes for overweight or obese women who are planning pregnancy. Her research will also evaluate the health economic implications and social factors contributing to access and utilisation of the weight loss intervention.
"We believe the findings will provide evidence to support investment in health promotion prior to conception at a population level, inform health policies globally, and provide a strategy to tackle child obesity," Professor Dodd said.
